The document discusses solutions for mitigating transboundary air pollution in Europe. It provides an overview of the issue and history. Currently, the main solution is separate protocols to address each pollutant under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). However, some protocols have fewer participating countries because the pollutants do not have obvious immediate health impacts. The document recommends incorporating urban green infrastructure (UGI) techniques into existing protocols to help absorb nitrogen oxide pollution before it crosses borders. UGI could help engage more countries by providing a low-cost solution to reduce transboundary air pollution.

1. Mitigating Transboundary Air Pollution in Europe
Daphne Saul
IS495: Intl Studies Senior Seminar
April 15, 2018

2. I. Overview, History and Definition of the Issue
Overview
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ambient air pollution causes 3 million
deaths worldwide every year.1 In 2013, coal plants in Germany, Poland, and Romania were
responsible for half of all health-related consequences due to air pollution,2 and considering that
air pollution does not respect traditional borders, it is a concern of all Europeans about health and
environmental impact. Transnational pollution not only effects Europe, but the entire world, and
any solutions should be broad enough to translate to other regions.
WHO guidelines from 2000 indicate, when air pollution concentrations rise above 300 ng/m3
then mitigation measures to reduce the levels to 300 ng/m3 should be taken, and that the source
of the emissions should be removed when of concern.3 The Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) provides solutions in the form of eight protocols, which
aid in the reduction of air pollution components. In this research, it was found that the more
directly a pollutant effects human health, the higher the number of member participants to a
protocol. Therefore, as this is an environmental issue, it is very important that states see this as a
human health issue as well.
History
The start of human control of air pollution began in the 14th century with the use of coal furnaces
in London, and later increased during the 19th century industrial revolution, European countries
to then produce modern pollution policies since 1951.4
1 World Health Organization. World Health Statistics 2017 Monitoring Health for the SDGs.(2017), 33.
2 Air Pollution: Europe's Avoidable Health Risk. (2013, March). The Lancet, 381(9870), 876.
3 World Health Organization. (2000). Air Quality Guidelines for Europe (2nd ed., p. 98). WHO Regional Office for Europe.
4 Council of Europe. Committee of Experts on Air Pollution; Legal Aspects of Air Pollution Control. 1972.

3. Early recommended solutions for air pollution abatement in the 1970s included ideas such as no-
emissions cars and elimination of pollutants before emission, which is easier said than done.5
The word “abatement,” used in the early UK Clean Air Act, began to be used in all air pollution
mitigation measures, as it is more precise, and considers that even though it cannot be eradicated
in entirety, it is the common effort to try to reduce it as much as possible.6
In 1975 the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a
report about the effects of Sulphur oxides, which had most concern with the acidification of
Scandinavian lakes.7 The report showed the transboundary permeation of the pollutant and
demanded Western Europe include Eastern Europe in the discussion about pollution mitigation,
accomplished in the 1975 Helsinki Conference on Security & Cooperation in Europe.8 This led
to the creation of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP), which then
implemented the 1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, whose
secretariat today is the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).9 The
Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) began with just one
protocol addressing Sulphur oxides, but now today has eight protocols that address the complex
nature of air pollution and its many sources such as Nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic
compounds (VOC), and Ammonia.10
Definition of the Issue
5 Council of Europe. Committee of Experts on Air Pollution; Legal Aspects of Air Pollution Control. 1972.
6 Council of Europe. Committee of Experts on Air Pollution;Legal Aspects of Air Pollution Control. (Strasbourg),
1972.
7 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Environment Directorate. Case Study from United States on Use of
Criteria Documents in Setting Standards for the Control of Sulphur Oxides. (Paris) 1975.
8 Sliggers, Johan, and Kakebee, Willem. Clearing the Air; 25 Years of the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, (2004): 3.
9 Sliggers, Johan, and Kakebee, Willem. Clearing the Air; 25 Years of the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution.United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, (2004): 3.
10 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.

4. One of the current problems with the protocols is implementation, since they are not legally
binding, the Implementation Committee of the Convention must take a supportive and persuasive
role with its non-compliance referrals.11
Air pollution, composed of several different components, all with different protocols under the
1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, effect member states differently,
leading to lack of participation in certain protocols based on state preferences.12
II. Possible Solutions
1. Separate solutions for each pollutant, the most current and multilateral solution, spells out
abatement plans for each air pollutant known today.13 Currently the National Emission Ceilings
(NEC) Directive sets the national emission limits for 8 emission categories in the EU,14 and use
of these to reduce total emissions may be the answer to better EU air pollution laws.
Member states do not have to sign with every protocol, based on what is most important to the
states,15 so implementation strategies pose the largest obstacle to air pollution abatement.
Terminology such as best available technology (BAT) must be eradicated, because these focus
interests on development of technology instead of environmental problems, further leading to un-
updated information under protocols which use BAT.16 Nonetheless, it is still vigilantly
11 Sliggers, Johan, and Kakebee, Willem. Clearing the Air; 25 Years of the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, (2004): 3.
12 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
13 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
14 Duprez, L. (2017, March). CLEARING THEAIR, A CRITICALGUIDETO THE NEW NATIONALEMISSION CEILINGS
DIRECTIVE. In AirClim Air Pollution and Climate Secretariat. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from
http://www.airclim.org/sites/default/files/documents/Clearing%20the%20Air%20report.pdf
15 Sliggers, Johan, and Kakebee, Willem. Clearing the Air; 25 Years of the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, (2004): 3.
16 Sliggers, Johan, and Kakebee, Willem. Clearing the Air; 25 Years of the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, (2004).

5. important to keep improving innovations and update based on innovations in the Convention for
up-to-date protocols and guidelines for abatement of air pollution.
2. CLRTAP has 53 participants, but not as many participants signed on to all protocols (see
appendices 3 and 4). Among those with the lowest number of participants include the two
Sulphur protocols, the Nitrogen Oxides protocol, and the Gothenburg Protocol. Comparatively,
the protocols with the highest number of participants are organic pollutants and heavy metals, at
41 and 40 participants respectively. With implementation as a key issue to air pollution
mitigation, it is vital to address why more countries signed with one rather than the other. The
pollutant Sulphur alone has two different protocols, the second one having increased by six
participants, perhaps to do with its improvement. The average number of participants of the
protocols is 34, but a dwindling 14 average for the following amendments of such protocols,
perhaps due to added country-specific interests. Looking at the parameters of the top two highest
participant-number protocols, The 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals focused on cadmium, lead,
and mercury via phasing out processes like leaded fuels that emit heavy metals,17 whereas The
Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) addressed 16 POPs via management of various
wastes and regulating several industry sectors.18 What these two protocols have in common, is
the substances’ immediate and obvious harmful effect on human health alone, for example,
mercury and lead are widely known to be poisonous to humans, as well as toxic waste emissions.
Therefore, a reason for less participants on other protocols could be that other compounds
(Sulphur, NOx, Ammonia, and VOCs) pose less of an obvious immediate threat to human health.
It may be of great use to promote the spread of information concerning the harmful effects that
these remaining pollutants have on human health and on the environment, so that more countries
17 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
18 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.

6. will participate in their abatement, to further lessen the transboundary effects. It may also be of
use to continue to adapt protocols to broader state interests, where the actions can easily be
implemented by any country.
3. Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) is a viable solution to part of the problem, since 80%
of greenhouse gas emissions come from cities (see appendix 1). Sequestration of pollution by
urban trees planted next to stationary sources of urban pollution, may capture the pollutants
before they escape into the outer atmosphere.19 This is not the best and most ultimate solution,
because the pollen that trees also emit adds to particulate matter in the air, and the majority of
nitrogen emissions come from the non-stationary transport sector20, but it is a solution for
microclimate modification, different between each urban space for optimization.21 Trees are still
living things and this technique must be done with great care, as to not stifle the trees as they can
only sequester so much pollution through the stomata before it becomes harmful.22
Consider the kind of trees planted, those with complex leave structures especially evergreen and
deciduous, excluding Populus and Quercus.23 Microclimate modification, may aid in absorbing
pollutants before they escape into the atmosphere.24 This solution ties in with the historic vision
from the 1970s “to counteract the pollution …through a rather more advanced technology…”.25
19 Pearlmutter, David, Carlo Calfapietra, Roeland Samson, Liz O'Brien, and Silvija K. Ostoic, eds. The Urban Forest;
Cultivating Green Infrastructure for People and the Environment. N.p.:Spring International Publishing AG, 2017.
20 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
21 Pearlmutter, David, Carlo Calfapietra, Roeland Samson, Liz O'Brien, and Silvija K. Ostoic, eds. The Urban Forest;
Cultivating Green Infrastructure for People and the Environment. N.p.:Spring International Publishing AG, 2017.
21 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
22 Pearlmutter, David, Carlo Calfapietra, Roeland Samson, Liz O'Brien, and Silvija K. Ostoic, eds. The Urban Forest;
Cultivating Green Infrastructure for People and the Environment. N.p.:Spring International Publishing AG, 2017.
22 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
23 Pearlmutter, David, Carlo Calfapietra, Roeland Samson, Liz O'Brien, and Silvija K. Ostoic, eds. The Urban Forest;
Cultivating Green Infrastructure for People and the Environment. N.p.:Spring International Publishing AG, 2017.
23 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
24 Pearlmutter, David, Carlo Calfapietra, Roeland Samson, Liz O'Brien, and Silvija K. Ostoic, eds. The Urban Forest;
Cultivating Green Infrastructure for People and the Environment. N.p.:Spring International Publishing AG, 2017.
24 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
25 Council of Europe. Committee of Experts on Air Pollution;Legal Aspects of Air Pollution Control.1972.

7. When enough UGI technology absorbs the pollution released from a stationary urban source, and
its widespread use leads to immediate absorption of certain pollutants, this technique can
transform transboundary air pollution levels through an adjustment in microclimates.
III. Recommended Solution
Incorporate UGI Technology into existing protocols or amendments: trees are good at absorbing
only Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Dioxide, and Ozone.26 Nitrogen Oxides are part of two of the
protocols: both The Protocol Concerning the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or Their
Transboundary Fluxes, and The Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication, and Ground-
level Ozone (a.k.a. the Gothenburg Protocol), and since these are two of the protocols that need
more participants, an added component to the solutions that is almost just “planting more trees”
(but not quite), is highly translatable from country to country.
Conclusion
Technology and science developments under the Convention should continue to be updated, to
find the best solutions that are cost-effective. From only Sulphur oxide worries in the 1990s-
2000s, to now a comprehensive multi-protocol strategy to abate all aspects of air pollution,
Europe has come a long way in action to counteract the negative effects of industrialization.
Innovative solutions like UGI must be added to the structure of the protocols, so that member
states develop suitable microclimates for the sequestration of pollution before it crosses
transboundary territory. Although these solutions are region specific, they can serve as a guiding
basis for air pollution abatement in other countries and regions.
26 Pearlmutter, David, Carlo Calfapietra, Roeland Samson, Liz O'Brien, and Silvija K. Ostoic, eds. The Urban Forest;
Cultivating Green Infrastructure for People and the Environment. N.p.:Spring International Publishing AG, 2017.

8. IV. Appendices
Appendix 1 Figure 1

9. Appendix 2 List 1
The Protocols under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution include:
The Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emission or Their Transboundary Fluxes by At Least
30 Percent, The Protocol on Further Reductions of Sulphur Emissions, The Protocol Concerning
the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or Their Transboundary Fluxes, The Protocol on
the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes, The
1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals, The Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and The Protocol
to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication, and Ground-level Ozone.27
Appendix 3 Data 1
Information Source: United Nations Treaty Collection
27 United Nations. Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement Review 2006. 2007.
47
25
35
30
32
41
40
35
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Financing
Sulphur
Nitrous Oxides
Volatile Organic…
Sulfur 2
Heavy Metals
Organic Pollutants
Acidification,…
# of Participants
Protocols
PROTOCOL PARTICIPANTS

10. Information Source: United Nations Treaty Collection
Appendix 4 List 2
Participants of LRTAP Convention Elements
Information Source: United Nations Treaty Collection
1. Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution:
Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France,
Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United
States of America.
17
15
10
14
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Amendents
to Organic…
Amendments
to Persistant…
Amendment
to Acidification,…
Amendment
to Heavy…
# of Participants
AmendmentstoProtocols AMENDMENT PARTICIPANTS

11. Financing Sulphur
Nitrogen
Oxides
Volatile
Organic
Compounds
(VOCS) Sulfur 2 Heavy Metals
Organic
Pollutants
Acidification,
Eutrophicatio
n
and Ground-
level Ozone
Total: 47 Total: 25 Total: 35 Total: 30 Total: 32 Total: 41 Total: 40 Total: 35
Albania Albania Albania Austria Austria Armenia Armenia Armenia
Armenia Austria Austria Belgium Belgium Austria Austria Austria
Austria Belarus Belarus Bulgaria Bulgaria Belgium Belgium Belgium
Belarus Belgium Belgium Canada Canada Bulgaria Bulgaria Bulgaria
Belgium Bulgaria Bulgaria Croatia Croatia Canada Canada Canada
Bosnia and
Herzegovina Canada Canada Czechia Cyprus Croatia Croatia Croatia
Bulgaria
Czech
Republic Croatia Denmark
Czech
Republic Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus
Canada Denmark Cyprus Estonia Denmark
Czech
Republic
Czech
Republic
Czech
Republic
Croatia Estonia
Czech
Republic
European
Union
European
Union Denmark Denmark Denmark
Cyprus Finland Denmark Finland Finland Estonia Estonia
European
Union
Czech Republic France Estonia France France
European
Union
European
Union Finland
Denmark Germany ,
European
Union Germany Germany Finland Finland France
Estonia Hungary Finland Greece Greece France France Germany
European Union Italy France Hungary Hungary Germany Germany Greece
Finland Liechtenstein Germany Italy Ireland Greece Greece Hungary
France Lithuania Greece Liechtenstein Italy Hungary Hungary Ireland
Georgia Luxembourg Hungary Lithuania Liechtenstein Iceland Iceland Italy
Germany ,
Netherlands
Ireland Luxembourg Lithuania Ireland Ireland Latvia
Greece Norway Italy Monaco Luxembourg Italy Italy Liechtenstein
Hungary
Russian
Federation Liechtenstein
Netherlands
Monaco Latvia Latvia Lithuania
Ireland Slovakia Lithuania Norway Netherlands Liechtenstein Liechtenstein Luxembourg
Italy Sweden Luxembourg Portugal Norway Lithuania Lithuania Netherlands
Latvia Switzerland Netherlands Slovakia Poland Luxembourg Luxembourg Norway
Liechtenstein
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia Norway Spain
Russian
Federation Monaco Montenegro Poland
Lithuania Ukraine Poland Sweden Slovakia Montenegro
Netherlands
Portugal
Luxembourg
Russian
Federation Switzerland Slovenia Netherlands Norway
Republicof
Moldova
Malta Slovakia
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia Spain Norway Poland Romania
Monaco Slovenia Ukraine Sweden Poland Portugal Slovakia
Montenegro Spain
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain Switzerland Portugal
Republicof
Moldova Slovenia

12. and Northern
Ireland
Netherlands Sweden
United States
ofAmerica
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia
Republicof
Moldova Romania Spain
Norway Switzerland Ukraine Romania Serbia Sweden
Poland
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland Serbia Slovakia Switzerland
Portugal Ukraine Slovakia Slovenia
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia
Republicof
Moldova
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland Slovenia Spain
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland
Romania
United States
ofAmerica Spain Sweden
United States
ofAmerica
Russian
Federation Sweden Switzerland
Serbia Switzerland
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia
Slovakia
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia Ukraine
Slovenia Ukraine
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland
Spain
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland
United States
ofAmerica
Sweden
United States
ofAmerica
Switzerland
The former
Yugoslav
Republicof
Macedonia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
of Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland
United States of
America

13. Amendents
to Organic
Pollutants
Amendments
to Persistant
Organic
Pollutants
Amendment
to Acidification,
etc.
Amendment
to Heavy
Metals
Total: 17 Total: 15 Total: 10 Total: 14
Canada Croatia Canada Croatia
Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Czech Republic
Cyprus
Czech
Republic European Union Denmark
Czech
Republic Estonia Finland European Union
Denmark
European
Union Germany Finland
Estonia Finland Netherlands Germany
European
Union Germany Slovakia Lithuania
Finland Lithuania Spain Luxembourg
Germany Luxembourg Sweden Netherlands
Lithuania
Netherlands United States of
America Slovakia
Luxembourg Norway Spain
Netherlands
Romania Sweden
Norway Slovakia Switzerland
Romania Spain
United States of
America
Slovakia Sweden
Spain
Sweden

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